Bus Blurs By Big Ben

Before coming to London, England, I had read a few photography-themed blogs written by guys from the Associated Press, Getty Images and such about shooting the Olympics. All of them mentioned “constant shooting” and “energy bars.”

Boy, where they right.

Covering the Olympics is like the movie “Groundhogs Day.” My assignment is wrestling and I cover (on average) forty matches a day. The wrestling starts at 12:45PM and continues through 8:30PM, with just over an hour break in the middle. During that time off I crush food like Garfield the Cat eats lasagna (by shoveling it in) and then I make my way to the ExCel Centre’s Hall N2 for more wrestling. It really is a lot of wrestling, but after awhile it becomes oddly enjoyable.

I’ve enjoyed recognizing the different athletes and picking favorites throughout the day. I’ve enjoy the crowd getting into it. I’ve enjoyed the Japanese woman winning a gold medal and the ENTIRE audience singing along to their countries national anthem.

The Olympics are a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. To get through the day, my “weapon of choice” is an energy drink versus the aforementioned energy bar; having one definitely helps getting through that last twenty wrestling matches.